Productions put on by our theater department require a lot of behind the scenes work including costumes, set, props, lights, and sound. The recent fall play “Trap” required a special amount of work due to the content of the play. From pretending there were electrical issues to the documentary style of the play, the aspects all came together in the end to tie in a twist and scare factor of the play.
The lights played a huge role in the play as the cast and crew pretended that the electricity and lights weren’t working properly. Theater director, Melissa Gehrke, came on stage at the beginning of the play and explained the lights were having issues.
“We would just randomly hit switches and they [the lights] would come back on after a few seconds,” Light crew member Connor Velleca (11) said. “It was a lot more intense queuing than we’ve done in other productions.”
The lights also added to the scariness of the play, the lights would go out at random times to add unease.
“The random cutting out, people didn’t expect it and it definitely made it a lot more scary,” Velleca said.
The costumes were a little different from other productions as well.
“In a show like ‘Twelfth Night’ [the past musical], we have a lot more freedom to use color and different silhouettes within each character to really make them pop on stage. For this show, the main color palette was pretty dull – greys, browns, blacks, and some dark red,” head of costumes Clara Walker (12) said.
The costumes also had to play a huge role to show what was going on in that scene.
“Hopefully they helped add to the spooky atmosphere and helped the audience understand the characters and their motivations,” Walker said. “For stuff like Angela’s straightjacket and Norma’s dress, they play a pivotal role in the play and the script. Additionally, because a lot of the actors played multiple characters, we had to get creative with how to show that someone is a different character while under time constraints.”
Small details had to help indicate who was what character.
“It was unique that we had to be creative with specific jackets and pants and how to cover up and reveal different elements to indicate different characters. This show was a lot about the details,” Walker said.
The set was harder to do as the crew had to hide details from the audience.
“In most other plays the process of creating the set involves figuring out how to portray certain ideas for the audience. With ‘Trap,’ however, not only did we have to figure out how to portray specific things, we also had to figure out how to hide things from the audience,” Set head Avery Bowen (12) said.
However at the same time the set played a huge role to establish the timelines and documentary feel of the play.
“The set played an integral role of establishing different timelines, locations, and events that were taking place at the same time on stage. It also reinforced the eerie vibe of the play,” Bowen said.
All together the crews came together to create an eerie and mysterious feel to the play. This play came with challenges but it all came together for the huge twist at the end.
